usatvline Chapter 312 The Provincial Examination is Imminent, Returning Home to Prepare
Chapter 312 The Provincial Examination is Imminent, Returning Home to Prepare
"Mingfei, is your essential oil extraction equipment reliable?"
Lin Yueniang helped her son wash basket after basket of flower petals. Apart from making flower cakes, this was the first time she had ever seen flower petals steamed in a pot.
"Why not give it a try? There are so many flowers here, no need to waste them."
Jiang Xiaoqi didn't know why she came up with the idea of making Danfang essential oils and hydrosols. Perhaps she felt it was a pity that the flowers all over the mountains and fields would just wither away.
Flowers have their blooming season, and people have their return time.
After the New Year, he and his mother would begin their journey home. The provincial examination would be held in the autumn of the following year, and they would set off in the spring. Half a year would be enough time to return to Xinghe Prefecture.
"It smells so good, Madam. Please smell it. The essential oil that the young master made is like the essence of flowers being drained and concentrated into a small bottle."
Fu Ling held a small porcelain bottle, and the fragrance inside the bottle continued to spread outwards.
Inside is rose essential oil made from hundreds of kilograms of fresh flowers. The people here don't call roses roses, but rather wild roses.
On the second day after Jiang Xiaoqi arrived, he discovered wild roses covering the mountains and immediately sought to contract several hilltops from the local government.
The mountain peaks offer affordable prices and a wide variety of fresh flowers.
Although it takes hundreds of kilograms of fresh flowers to concentrate into a small bottle of flower essential oil, the by-product, flower hydrosol, is produced in relatively high quantities.
Hydrosols do not require special preparation; they are a byproduct of essential oil production.
Many people in later generations use rose hydrosol as a basic moisturizing agent, while essential oils are used more often in aromatherapy spas.
In short, they are all natural and useful good things.
Lin Yueniang loved the smell of essential oils and no longer cared about the baskets of fresh flowers.
"It's really fragrant, with a sweet aroma. Mingfei, after doing all this, are you planning to start a business selling essential oils and hydrosols?"
Jiang Xiaoqi nodded, looking at the yard full of flowers and seven or eight small porcelain bottles containing rose essential oil as well as essential oils from several other flowers and herbs.
There are sage essential oil, ylang-ylang essential oil, and wild chrysanthemum essential oil, and of course, there are even more corresponding hydrosols.
"Mother, do you think this business can be successful?"
"I think it's good. It smells much better than those perfumes and balms in the capital, and it's more pleasant to smell and not so cloying."
“Since Mother thinks it’s possible, let’s give it a try. Mother, would you be interested in managing this business? Right here, we can contract a few more mountains, or directly source raw materials from the locals.”
Lin Yueniang's eyes lit up, but she hesitated: "But we are unfamiliar with this place, so it may not be easy to do business here."
Jiang Xiaoqi laughed and said, "Mother, it's alright. We can find a few useful people here, and then have Master Lin Feng send over a few clever helpers to keep each other in check. Let's set up the business first."
Upon learning that her son had made arrangements, Lin Yueniang no longer declined, as she also hoped to remain in this place.
If it weren't for her son having to take the provincial examination, she really wouldn't want to leave this place. The mountains, rivers, and seas of flowers here are the home she has always dreamed of.
Now that she has a more appropriate and reasonable reason to stay, how could she possibly miss it?
"But you're taking the provincial examination tomorrow. Is it really okay if I don't go back with you?"
"It's alright. Li Mo will accompany me back, and Fu Ling will stay behind to be your helper."
If you need any more manpower, you can write a letter. We still have many people in Beijing whom we've trained all along; you can see which ones would like to travel.
"Alright, let's see what they want. They're so far away, we can't force them. Even with Fuling, we should ask her what she wants, since she's not staying here for just a year or two."
"Madam, Fuling is willing! As long as I follow you, what does it matter where I am? Wherever you are, Fuling will be there! Please don't abandon Fuling!"
Fuling, who had been washing flower petals, suddenly spoke up, fearing that Lin Yueniang would send her away and replace her with another female nurse.
Fuling looked pitiful, as if she was about to cry, but Jiang Xiaoqi couldn't help but laugh.
Lin Yueniang nodded helplessly and patted Fuling's hand: "You silly girl, who said we didn't want you? We just felt we didn't have enough manpower and wanted to add some more."
Don't think you can do everything by yourself. Right now we only have five or six mountains, but in the future there might be dozens. Even if you were divided into eight parts, you still wouldn't be able to handle it all.
“Alright, alright, it would be good to find some more people to help, it will make it more lively. When the young master and Li Mo leave, it will be too lonely for just the two of us, my wife and I.”
Fu Ling's expression changed from gloomy to sunny, and the speed at which she changed her expression was astonishing. Jiang Xiaoqi could only silently give her a thumbs up in her heart.
The two letters sent to the messenger were dispatched simultaneously, one via post station and the other by carrier pigeon.
Sending messages by carrier pigeon is faster than using postal stations. After receiving the message by carrier pigeon, Lin Feng arranged for several thoughtful young people who were not burdened by family members.
In Xinghe Prefecture, several young people had already set off as Lin Feng had instructed, while the Jiang residence in the capital had not yet received a letter from Lin Yueniang.
As winter turned to spring, Lin Yueniang and her men had prepared a large quantity of goods, including various flower essential oils and hydrosols, as well as the essential oil soap that Jiang Xiaoqi had just developed at the end of last year.
Essential oil soaps have a delicate texture, and their vibrant colors and various floral designs are extremely eye-catching. With proper packaging, a single essential oil soap can even sell for ten taels of silver.
Given the long distance, the mother and son decided to focus on quality over quantity, prioritizing the quality of their products.
Hundreds of essential oil soaps are separated by hay, and a layer of fine cloth is laid on top of the hay to prevent damage to their shape and to prevent them from bumping into each other during transport.
Once we arrive in the capital, we can have someone make the brocade boxes for packaging. If we ship in bulk now, we can save a lot of transportation space.
Hundreds of bottles of essential oils and hydrosols were also carefully stored, ensuring they wouldn't bump into each other, and the seals were extremely tight, preventing the scent from escaping or leaking.
The goods were loaded onto the truck, and the bodyguards arrived.
Jiang Xiaoqi will also bid farewell to her mother and leave the "Shangri-La" where she has lived for more than half a year.
After checking the goods and giving instructions to the accompanying bodyguards, Jiang Xiaoqi bid farewell to his mother, Lin Yueniang, with Li Mo.
Lin Yueniang stood at the door, watching her son's departing figure, her eyes filled with reluctance.
Fuling gently comforted him from the side: "Madam, the young master will definitely pass the provincial examination. Even if we miss the provincial examination, we can take the metropolitan examination next year. By then, things should be on track. I will keep an eye on things for you. You can go to the capital to accompany the young master to the metropolitan examination!"
"The imperial examination is next year, so there's still a year to go. Even if the journey is long, we still have more than half a year to get the business here running smoothly."
Lin Yueniang nodded: More than half a year... When we go to the capital, we can send another batch of goods to the capital, so we can take care of both business and our son!